


Watching Sam Tyler

by RebellionOfTheFly



Category: Life on Mars (UK)
Genre: Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Not as much angst as other tags suggest, Unrequited Crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-15 08:02:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28935228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RebellionOfTheFly/pseuds/RebellionOfTheFly
Relationships: Chris Skelton/Sam Tyler
Comments: 1
Kudos: 7





	Watching Sam Tyler

Chris is quite fond of watching Sam Tyler. It is, arguably, the highlight of the average work day. Even after only a week or two of Sam being there, Chris had begun to look forward to it - the calm: When the villain is in the cells, and everyone's swamped in paperwork, and looking up from his desk rewards him with the vision of Tyler's proud little 'job well-done' smile.

  
Chris is only half-aware of the things he notices watching Tyler. The way he arranges his desk; How he always makes the exact same mistakes when he rattles off someone's rights incorrectly; The looks he shoots across the room when he's deliberating if he should tear himself away from his work for a drink or suffer in silence. And, Chris definitely doesn't question why he does it when he tidies up Sam's desk just-so after knocking things off; or, drops a glass of water off with Sam when he gets himself one. It simply happens.

  
He thinks he's going mental when he sees Tyler watching back. He's usually watching Annie, after all, Chris had noticed (with a rather sour feeling that he couldn't quite place). It doesn't make sense that he's being watched. Two kinds of people are watched: People who are interesting, and people who are hiding something. He must be the second one, he thinks, and Tyler's gaze just seems to confirm it. It makes him nervous. He doesn't know what secrets he's keeping, and he's positive that Tyler could see them anyway.

  
When Chris gets caught looking he plays dumb, smiling briefly and going back to work, but Tyler has no such dignity. He'll stare straight into Chris' eyes, just long enough that there's no doubt of what he'd been doing - what he's always doing.

  
Nearly every night, as he struggles to sleep, Chris runs through the whole case of 'staring at the DI'. Means and opportunity don't help; He already knows he's guilty. Motive? Not money or rivalry, but that usually leaves passion. Chris knows it can't be that; Every girl whose ever dumped him said he isn't the least bit passionate.

  
So, he bans himself. No sitting next to Tyler in the pub, or standing too close when they're walking, or the countless other DI Tyler-related activities he's so desperate to do. Not until he gets to the bottom of it. But, Sam is still watching, and it only seems to tell him more.

  
"Have you been avoiding me, Chris?" He asks, as calm and placating as he can, in the silence of the abandoned hallway, one uneventful Tuesday evening.

  
"I should be getting to the pub," Chris mumbles. 

  
Sam bites back his observation that Gene and Ray hadn't noticed Chris wasn't there, even if he can see on the lad's face that he already knows it. "I think they'll begrudge you a minute."

  
Chris nods and shoves his hands into his pockets, trying and failing to fight back the anxiety creeping up on him. "Boss?"

  
"Yeah?"

  
"Can I be can-? Cand-?"

  
"Candid?"

  
"That one."

  
"Go on."

  
"Why're you watching _me_?" There's a self-depreciating twist to the last word, and the sound of it sends a pained look across Tyler's face. 

  
"I want to," he almost says. Or, the ever-ambiguous "You're a fine copper" that Maya had seen the brunt end of quite a bit. But, "You started it," is all that comes out.

  
Chris doesn't laugh how he usually does. He just hunches over further, trying to disappear into the silence and the cold air. "Sorry, Boss."

  
"There's no need to apologise. Just," he struggled, for a moment. "Be careful. Not everyone's gonna know you're harmless."

  
"Harmless," Chris repeats, unable to stop himself wondering if that's why Tyler doesn't respect him. Gene and Annie can't half defend themselves afterall, and he can't take his attention off them. "Will do, Boss."

  
It's quiet for a while, but it's in Sam's nature to push it. "Why are you watching me?"

  
Chris wants to shrug, but he can hardly move. Then, he looks at Sam's knowing expression and he's all movement, bringing himself up taller and pushing further into the wall behind him. "I'm not some kind of poof."

  
"That's a shame," Sam jokes.

  
"Eh?"

  
"Chris, in the last week, I've seen about three different blokes falling over 'emselves around you, and I'm not even counting him on the burglary charge who just openly propositioned you." 

  
"It's not them I was looking at, though, is it?" It was more an admission of defeat than a come-on, but it still made Sam chuckle.

  
"I'm your commanding officer, Chris. But, when Hunt finally fires me, I'll be in touch."

  
Chris laughed, a trace of a smirk splitting across his face. "Can I be candid, again?"

  
"Yeah."

  
"You're a right knobhead."

  
Sam threw an arm around his shoulder, laughing. "Let's get you down the pub, Skelton."


End file.
